Improvement in machines for jointing staves



` To Vall whom it may concern.-

l f SOLOMONS GRY.. for; BOSTON; MASSACHUSETTS.

t j l if Patent No,107,678,datedSeptember V2"", 1870.

` The referred to in .theseiLetters Patent making part of the same j Beitlknown that I, SOLOMNS. Grniin'of Boston, 1

in thecounty of Suii'olkaud State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Machines for Jointing the Edges of Stav'es to the desired shape; andI do herebydeolare vthat thefollowing, taken in connection with thedrawing which ac-` companies and forms part ofthis specificatiomis a del scription of my invent-ion suicient to enablefthose skilled in thera'rt topractice it. t

. This machine is designed to operate' upon staves, (after they have been made convex on one surface, and concaveon the other, andarecut totheproper length,

and beveledand crozed'at the ends,) to give to the edgesoi' the staves the proper. curvatures and bevels l needed to make perfectly tight jointswith each other,l

when a set isarranged together to form a barrel or cask. y

My invention consists'in the combination, with saws arranged to out stave-edges in directions substantially radial to 4thelongitudinal axes. of the'barrels or casks 4.to be formed tbrefrom, offmeans for carryingor feed- `V i ing each stave in a curved path, adapted `to perfectly jointor shape, by the operation of vtwosaws, each edge ofeach stave subjected to the action of the machine.

It further consists in-'a restor gauge, which is arranged'so asto yield, topermit thev stave tofmove in a curvilinear path past the gauge, `and to return to its 1 normal'position, so as to gauge the position'pf a stave;- blank on the device employed` to feed it to the action of thesaw.

.And it also consists in the combination of prcssers with a Vcurvilinear guide-path, and the conveyers mov-3 ing therein, so that the staves maybe kept upon said conveyers during the time in which theyare subjected to the action of the saws. s l

`Figurel of the drawing `represents myimproved machine in side elevation and Figure 2, in plan. i I Asuitableframe, c, is made, having a top,-b, on or l in which is located a curvilinear guide-path, c, in which are tted the conyeyers land c, seen in detail in These conveyers are ustably attached to an end.-

` 5' less band, f, which, in practice, is preferably made as 1a chain, which passes at the` ends of the machine over wheels `y and It, Ythe 1atter.of-which is driven in the direction `of the arrow marked thereupon, by any suitahle means, at any desired speed, and one or both of said wheels aremade adjustable in position, so that the band passing over them may be tightened when required. l l t .The guide-`path c is preferably made by strips of metal, it', with their adjacent `edges suitably curved,

. and set at a uniform distance apart, said edges projecting ovei' agroove formed in the top l1, of suicient size ,to .freely permit the passage of the band f, and

.those parts of the conveyers d and e, by' which they are secured to theband. The conveyers 'are closely .tted between the Vedges of the strips?) i, and have projections which :bear on the top surface of said strips. l l

:l- 0n thefframe a are located bearings for circular' saws, so arranged that the saws will he in the radialV planes nedcdto form the edge joint-surfaces of the staves, and, Vin practice, I make provision for adjustment of said bearingsv to suit the stave-edges to the angle orbevel needed for barrels or casks of different diameters.` These 'saws are to be rotated rapidly, so as to c ut, as is usual, against the advancing staves, one sawforming one edge, and the other the vother edge of each sta've in succession, the saws being driven in any suitableknown way.

The conveyers d Aand c may be varied in form, and

`in the way in which they are connected to the band f, lbut, however made, they should beV removable from the band, so that others may be adjusted'thereon, to

suit staves with wide or narrow crozings, and should be relatively adj ust-able thereon, to suit stares-of different lengths. i

The leading conveyerc has aiiange, 1, which is fitted' in size and form to the shape of the croze in the stave end, and with la spur, which keeps the stave frpm lateral movement on said ange, the under surface of which bears ou the upper surface `of the strips t c',

while the neck 2 of the conveyer fits the space between the edges of said strips. f

The conveyer dis similar to @except thatlthe piece which rests on the top surface of strips i need not fill the Croze in the oth r end of the stave; r In each conveyer `aspur,W eded to prevent lateral movement of the stave Two or more sets of conveyers are used upon the hand,as maybe found suited to the dexterity of the operator, and the rate of cut made by the saws.

The guide-path is a double curve orogee, which, in length, is about four times the length of the stave to be sawed, and each saw is set with its cutting-part at or near the middle ordinate ofthe curve of the adjacent part `of the path, the saw being also set tangential to a curve made parallel with the guide-path, so that it willbe seen that the stavcbody,in its advance, moves away from the `sawwhieh'is making its cut, while the strips'which are out from the stave-blanks are so thin and flexible that they bend and break off from the saw, without giving any practical annoyance. The sawbearings', in practice, may be adjusted toward and from the .guide-path, within the Aslight limits which may be needed to vary the width of the stares.

At 'the front end ofthe machine isl placed a guide or rest, j, with its face at each end equally distant from the guide-path, and at a distancefrom the centhat its end, nearestthe first saw, can yield away from the saw, as the stare-blank is carried onward.

The spring l tends to keep the guide pressed against a stop-pin, m, so that when the last end ofastave-blank passes the rst saw, the spring returns the guide to its normal position, to he used as the gauge by which the next stave-blank is set hy the operator properly on the eonveyers.

When the firstconveyer e presents itself above the stripsi i, the operator places a stave-blank against the operative face oi' gauge j, and drops the croze of the advanced end over the ange 1, and as the conveyer a appears, he lowers the other end of the blank thereupon, pressing the blank upon the spurs in both con veyers. Y

l J ust ahead of the cntting-part of each saw is placed a yielding presser, u, while between the saws is 1ocated a yielding presser, 0, and there is also, behind the last saw, another yielding presser, p, the function of all .of the said pressers being to keep the stave properly in place upon the eonveyers under the act-ion of the saws. A

This machine operates to joint, by means of the saws, first one and then the other edge of staves as fast as the blanks can be placed by the operator upon the conveyers, and performs its work so that thejoints in barrels and casks, made up with stayesprepared by the described machine, are liquid-tight. No attendant is needed at the rear end of the maehine,as the stai-'es are automatically discharged from the conveyers, as they pass over the wheel lz, on their way to receive a fresh stave-blank.

I claim- In a machine for 'jointing staves suitably for forming barrels, or other vessels with a bilge, the combination, with oppositely -inclined saws, of a double curyed guide and conveyers, d e, operating in continuous succession, substantially as described.

Also, in combination with the curved guide and saw, the spring-pivoted guide or gauge.

Also, yielding presser-s, in combination with the matter irst claimed. A

SOLOMON S. GRAY.

Witnesses: l

J. B. CROSBY, FRANois GoULD. 

